An old Fable quoted the advice of "believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see". Famous satirist Will Rogers added to that by saying, "All I know is what I read in the newspapers". Both are sage advice as a reminder when watching the Super Bowl advertising. Its advertising has become as big as the game itself. MSNBC reports that in 1967, the cost of a Super Bowl ad was 37,500 on NBC. Sunday's game cost a quoted 2.6 Million per national spot.
When we see these ads, we assume that there is truth because "someone" must be making sure that these ads are truthful. Plus, isn't there some law (The Lanham Act) that makes advertisers pay money when they run false ads?
Apparently, the ad campaign for Jenny Craig, felt bound by no such restrictions. USA Today reports that Weight Watchers filed a lawsuit against Jenny Craig to make them stop running one of their ads that featured Valerie Bertinelli. Bertinelli, while dressed in a white lab coat, announces that a "major clinical trial run by some serious lab geeks" found that Jenny Craig dieters lost twice as many pounds, as those that used the nation's largest weight loss program. It was a shot at Weight Watchers
The problem with that claim; no study had been done. As set forth in the Weight Watcher lawsuit, the "study" was actually two studies that were conducted about 10 years apart. The Jenny Craig ad was compared to stand alone diet results and not the Weight Watchers program.
Jenny Craig CEO, Patti Larchet, responded to the lawsuit by saying:
"In fact, Jenny Craig has such faith in its program and feels so confident about its performance in clinical trials that we challenge Weight Watchers to compete directly with us in a head-to-head clinical trial," Larchet said. "If Weight Watchers refuses to take up our challenge to compete head-to-head in a new trial, we suggest that they offer consumers up-to-date rigorous clinical studies to support the advertising of their current program."
When I watch Pharmaceutical ads, I sometimes get the same feelings about their claims. Reading this Jenny Craig CEO response makes me think that she might have a career ahead in the Pharmaceutical industry. Of course, if you are a regular reader of my blog, you knew that somehow, this would probably end up being discussed in relation to Drug companies or the Chamber of Commerce. I just couldn't help myself when I read this article! If Will Rogers were alive today, he might add to his quote by including, "and don't believe any ad you see on TV".
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